Las Vegas trip: Abela defends Cuschieri, says no conflict of interest evident

 

Prime Minister Robert Abela has defended MFSA chief Joe Cuschieri, saying that, from what he has heard so far, no conflict of interest arose from a trip to Las Vegas that Cuschieri had gone on with Yorgen Fenech.

At the time of the trip, in 2018, Cuschieri was transitioning from the Malta Gaming Authority to the financial services watchdog.

“Did Cuschieri have a conflict of interest back then? Did the trip impact his role at the MFSA? From what I have read and been told so far, there exists no conflict of interest.”

Cuschieri said he had been asked by Fenech, who had been interested in an investment in the US, to give regulatory advice. He told The Malta Independent that he had not been paid for his service but would not go into detail about the advice he had given to Fenech.

Fenech paid for the flights and the accommodation was covered by the hotel – Caesar’sPalace.

It has since emerged that Edwina Licari, the MFSA’s general counsel, who is also a member of the FIAU board, and Charlene Bianco Farrugia, Keith Schembri’s former personal assistant, had also gone on the trip.

Questions to the Finance Ministry, the MFSA and to Licari and Bianco Farrugia remain unanswered. The FIAU, on the other hand, has said it does not have the power to remove its own board members.

Abela said that a number of questions arise from the situation. “Did he know that Yorgen Fenech was involved in the Daphne Caruana Galizia case? Because if yes, it would change the scenario completely. These are questions I have to ask,” he continued.

“Is this an attack against this individual, or against someone close to him, because he took some decisions that did not go down well with some in the financial services sector? Things are often not as simple as they might seem and if there is something that I always keep in mind is that nothing ever happens by coincidence.”

Asked if individuals should declare any conflicts of interest before taking up certain posts, Abela said this is why the government introduced a revolving doors policy.